Smells Like [Holy] Spirit

Last night I was feeling rather pensive, in light of the fact that I would be starting the great "20's decade." I was saddened by the fact that I've only been living for Jesus for the past few years, and not more. But looking ahead, I'm excited to see how God will use me for this decade. I happened to be reading in 2 Corinthians last night, and the end of chapter 2 stuck out to me. It reads:

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." (2:14-15)

 This is such an awesome, vivid picture of how we influence others around us just by being in relationship with God. Like being with your grandpa who has that particular cologne; afterwards people can tell you've been with him because they can smell the cologne. I want to have more of the aroma of Christ, and I want this next decade to be marked with the aroma of Christ. So I guess that's my top birthday wish: for this decade to be saturated with the aroma of Christ, to live in such a way that people can smell Jesus on me.

Black And White

No, this post is not about racism. It's about the simplicity of the gospel message. I think we like to make gray areas that are non-existent but make us more comfortable and allow us to hold on to sin while keeping the title of "Christian." I want to be brief, so I will simply list some observations I made while skimming through the gospels and 1 John.

First, I like John 3:19, especially because it starts with "This is the verdict:" Jesus is basically saying, "Look, Nic (he's talking with Nicodemus), here's how it is." He doesn't leave wriggling room. He says it how it is. The world has darkness. "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil...But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light" (John 3: 19, 21). He doesn't mention an in-between area; just light and darkness.

Second, the change from darkness to light is noticeable. Those who "have passed from death to life" don't remain in sin anymore (1 John 3:6,9). They remain in that light/love (John 15). When the world sees the change, "it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God" (John 3:21).

Third, the light that comes into Christians is to be shared to the world. "A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house" (Matthew 5:14-15). If the world doesn't see the light that a person claims to have, then they rightly wonder whether or not the light is really in him. John makes it clear that there are people out there who don't have the truth, or light, in them, and who deceive themselves (1 John 1-2).

These are my observations, and I need to evaluate my life to see if there is anything that doesn't match up to this, anything in a "gray area." I need to make sure that my walk matches my talk. Taking an evaluation of your life is a good thing to do now and again, and if you are in need of taking one, I suggest reading through the gospels and 1 John and see where your life fits in that. I think you will find that Jesus' message is pretty black and white.

Prostitution: A Christian Problem

It's almost 11 PM, and I'd rather go to bed than write this post. I also would prefer not to write this because it's an uncomfortable topic. But I need to be honest about what God has been showing me; it's an ugly thing that I have become aware of in my life, and also in the Bible. There are two passages that I'm writing from; the first is in Judges 8, and the second is in Ezekiel 16.

Judges 8 is the aftermath of the story of Gideon. For those that don't know, God used Gideon to save the Israelites from the oppression of neighboring countries. God took Gideon's army of thousands and only let him take 300 men, so that they would know they wouldn't win in their own strength. And God used that small group of men to defeat a massive army, and eventually liberate Israel from oppression. So what happens after all that? Gideon takes the gold rings from the plunder and makes an idol. Here's 8:27,33-34:

"Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family...No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side."

 It's incredible (aka unbelievable) that this is what happened after God's provision for them. You have to wonder how they could be so blind to go back to their old ways. Ezekiel 16 is probably more appalling. It's God's allegory of Jerusalem when they were being unfaithful to Him. Since I don't want to post the whole chapter, I will summarize, but I would recommend reading it in its entirety. God equates Jerusalem to an abandoned baby left to die in a field; He takes her in as her own and grows her back to life "like a plant of the field." She becomes a beautiful lady, "the most beautiful of jewels." He then enters into a marriage relationship with her and gives her the finest clothes, food, love, etc. She becomes a famous queen "because the splendor [God] had given [her] made [her] beauty perfect." But then comes the tragedy in verses 15 and 22:

"But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors an anyone who passed by and your beauty became his...In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood."

 Prostitution is an ugly reality, and these passages paint an ugly but true portrayal of the Israelites' treatment toward God. In their pride they forgot all that God had done for them and trusted in themselves. They prostituted themselves with the world. These stories still happen today; this is something God has been showing me in my own life. I have been prideful. I have trusted in my own strength and gone my own way. I have prostituted myself with the world, leaving the perfect love of God and searching for satisfaction elsewhere. And on the eve of Thanksgiving, I am thankful that God has been showing me my faults and reminding me of what He has done for me and who He is: a loving Father who reconciled us to Himself through Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18) and who brings us back into fellowship with Him when we have gone astray (Luke 15:11-31).

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." -Psalm 139:23-24

An Update Kind Of Update

It's hard to believe that the training here is approaching the end. It feels like it has been moving so quickly. I've recently been realizing that I haven't been doing a good job at being a part of a community in regards to spiritual fellowship. I haven't asked for any kind of spiritual accountability, and I think that that has been affecting my spiritual life. Within the past week God has been showing me the importance of spiritual fellowship and accountability, that we aren't supposed to be walking with God solo. He showed me that we are to encourage one another and to spur each other to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24). The word "spur" doesn't sound comfortable, but God's been saying that we need this kind of fellowship, and that we can't let ourselves become complacent. We need the Church. I need the Church. So please pray for me as I seek this fellowship, as I pursue and share the love of God with others.

American Idols

Yesterday I had a very meaningful Jesus time; that's significant for me because it had been a while since I had had a meaningful Jesus time. Ironically, my Jesus time yesterday showed me why I haven't been having meaningful Jesus times. And it's all because of the American Idols.

First, I watched a podcast from Cornerstone Church, and the pastor spoke about how God's people get carried away from focusing on God by idols. He mentioned the Israelites during the Old Testament, the church of Pergamum in Revelation, and Americans today. Last night I read 1 John, and the last thing John says in that book is:

"Dear children, keep yourselves from idols."

Call it coincidence, but I think God was trying to tell me something about idols in my life.
Something that has been bugging me lately is that I haven't been able to have consistent, meaningful Jesus times. I give myself the time, but it's only sporadically meaningful. What I think God has been showing me lately is that I have many things in my life that are drowning out His voice. I've been giving other things (things that in and of themselves are not bad or evil) more attention than I've been giving God.

These things I am calling American Idols, because I believe that idolatry is still a problem among believers. (Obviously, this problem isn't exclusive to America alone, but I think it's a bigger one here than in other places.) This isn't a recent problem; throughout the Bible you see God's people turn away from Him for idols. What has changed isn't the problem of idolatry, but the forms of it. In the Old Testament, people would worship actual idols. Although we don't worship actual idols now, there are idols out there that can pull us away from God. I am by no means an expert on this, but these are some things I've been learning recently.

I could go on and give an exhaustive list of American Idols, but I will just list some that I am dealing with. A big one to which I have been giving too much attention is the internet. I love reading technology news about new and upcoming gadgets. Too much. I also love seeing if there are new updates on social networks. Too much. Again, they're nothing evil in and of themselves, but if given too much attention, they can impede my ability to connect with God and the discipleship happening around me here at HDC. And when they get in the way of God and those around me, they become idols. American Idols.

Chewin' The Cud

I was listening to a podcast from Francis Chan, and he preached on 2 Peter 1:2:

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

 I completely connect with this verse; a feeling of grace and peace come from a good Jesus time. I don't really want to say much about this verse. It's a good one to chew on for a bit, so I encourage you to do so. Food for thought indeed.

Forgetful

This word describes me, and I don't think it would be a stretch to say this describes alot of people. I know I constantly forget certain things from the Bible that would be good to remember, like Jeremiah 29:11-13, Matthew 6:25ff, Psalm 73:26, Hebrews 12:7, John 15:4, etc. I was listening to a podcast from Cornerstone in Simi Valley, and the speaker said this: "Disobedience is the manifestation of forgetfulness." I find that to be true in  my life, and I think it's true for alot of American Christians. The speaker I was listening to was preaching from Deuteronomy about the tribe of Israel, and how they were told how they need to keep remembering what God did for them so they wouldn't forget and then disobey. I spent a good amount of time over the weekend remembering what all God has done for me, and I recently realized that I had forgotten some truths I had learned about God over the past year. 

In summation, I need to remember not to forget all that God has done and does for me.

A Jesus Story

The YES training at HDC has begun! And with it comes the structure I have been craving!
For the trainings here, all the staff and participants share their spiritual pilgrimage, or, as I prefer, their Jesus story, within the first two weeks or so. I was one of the first staff members to share their Jesus story, so I spent an evening last week thinking about what to share.

It was really encouraging for me to reflect on how I've been changed through the years. Looking back, I was able to see God's hand in growing me closer to Him. I don't have my notes in front of me, but I will recount what I shared to the best of my ability.

Growing up, I had great Christian influences around me. I grew up in a Christian home, went to a private Christian school, and attended church every Sunday. However, I was spiritually dead. I said my prayers each night only because that's what my family did after family devotions. I was baptized in 7th grade, but only because my parents thought it would be a good thing to do. Again, there was nothing alive spiritually inside. And so this put me in the scary position of knowing the right things to say at Sunday school, but I didn't really have a relationship with Jesus.

Now, concerning un-spiritual aspects of growing up.

At school, I was the class clown. My church didn't have much of a youth group. Because of these, I didn't really have any close friends at all, and I didn't relate well with others. I formed my first close friendships during my first job at a Christian summer camp. Since I wasn't good at relating with others, I became too attached to one of my female friends there. I ended up hurting myself because of that. And I remember at the end of my second summer working there telling God to take care of the situation. Interestingly, the real situation was that there was no spiritual life inside me. And so God began to answer that prayer, but not in the way I expected.

That fall, my church hired a youth leader, Mike. When he started working, my youth group jump-started to life. Mike was (and continues to be) a man on fire for God, and it showed at youth group. God started speaking to me through my youth group's small groups; we would split up into a girls group and a guys group for Wednesday nights. We read through the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan as a group, and God used that to open my eyes to alot of things. I realized that I didn't really have much of a relationship with God and that most of my Christianity was just head knowledge. God worked in my heart, and I decided that I wanted to have a time of focused spiritual growth. So I took a year off college after I graduated high school to go on a YES trip (Youth Evangelism Service).

The three-month training was intense, but spiritually amazing. I loved the atmosphere of spiritual growth there. God spoke to me during my training (through others praying over me) and revealed that He wanted me to be a spiritual father. This was something that kept popping up during training, and I received much affirmation about this. I still don't know what this will look like exactly, but I know it's something in which God wants to use me. During my outreach (in Albania), I started having what I call "Jesus time": spending time alone with the Bible, listening to worship music or a podcast from a church. Much spiritual growth happened during my daily "Jesus time." One of the coolest things about my trip was that I was able to about things I was learning spiritually with my host mother, who was a Christian but knew no English. We were able to connect spiritually despite our different backgrounds.
I returned in July, and I had felt like I should work on staff here at HDC.

So that's my Jesus story so far, or the main gist of it. I was spiritually dead, but Jesus made me alive. Now, I am blessed to witness the first chapters of some of my friends' Jesus stories, and I'm blessed to be here at HDC, witnessing important chapters of the participants' Jesus stories. They are exciting stories of redemption and new life, and they are the best ones to tell others.

Pharisees in our Mirrors

The stuff I've been reading in the Bible has compelled me to write about this topic. I think it's something that we as Christians (for those reading who are Christians) have blinded ourselves to, and it's something we need to read about again in the Bible. What I'm going to talk about is directly from the Bible; nothing else. I'm taking a couple books from the New Testament and comparing the things I read to the culture I'm in. So if anything seems questionable, please take a look at the Bible and see for yourselves.

As I read in the Bible about who Jesus spent time with and what the apostle Paul writes about, I am struck by how many self-proclaimed Christians are suffering from what I call "Pharisee Syndrome." There are so many "Christians" out there who come across as condemning instead of loving toward unbelievers. It's as if they have forgotten that "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) It's as if they have forgotten that "all of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath." (Ephesians 2:3) It's as if they have forgotten that Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17) It's as if they have forgotten that "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

Now, I am not called to judge people's hearts; that's God's business. I am just saying that I see what people are saying about themselves and how they're living; and it's not matching up. And this isn't a new occurrence; it was going on during Jesus' ministry. They were called the Pharisees and teachers of the law. They were the "experts." They were the "religious" guys. They "had it figured out." They were the ones who constantly condemned "sinners" for not following the Law of Moses and the traditions they kept. And yet they are the ones that Jesus constantly called out as hypocrites. Jesus warned his disciples, "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." (Luke 12:1) These Pharisees were religious, but they weren't followers of God. They became legalistic, sticking to traditions and laws, and judged those who weren't able to keep up. Paul quotes a passage referring to people with this attitude: "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." (Romans 2:24; see Isaiah 52:5 and Ezekiel 36:22)

These people were around 2,000 years ago, and they are around today too. Everywhere you look there are churches and people who claim to be Christians but condemn and judge, and who blaspheme God's name by their attitudes. Just last night I was talking with a friend of mine, and she shared something that made me angry. A group of people at her college were doing exercises on diversity, to show how people are different, and one of these exercises was about homosexuals. Before they started, one guy spoke up and said, "Just so you all know, I don't support this because I'm a Christian." Even though he didn't intend to be condemning, his words were hurtful to many there.
Is that what Jesus would say? He hung out with people who knew that they weren't righteous. (Mark 2:15) He loved them all. Everyone has fallen short, and God doesn't show favoritism. (Romans 2:11) We have been saved by grace alone, not by anything we do. (Ephesians 2:8)

Who are we to judge people who aren't following God? Would we have started following God if others had judged and condemned us for being sinful? If we are called to make disciples of the nations (Matthew 28:19), how is this attitude helping us fulfill that calling? Are we without sin? Have we become perfect? Like Jesus said, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." (Matthew 7:3,5) For God's sake (literally), remember who you are and let Him do the judging!

Sadly, many of us suffer from Pharisee Syndrome. You don't need to be always condemning and judging people to have this either. In the same way that the Pharisees were legalistic, many of us have become focused on doing the right things, on earning our salvation. We have forgotten that we were saved by grace and that faith is a gift we can't earn, and we strive to be good enough to satisfy our conscience. In Revelation, God says to a church that became focused on the works,"You have forsaken your first love." (2:4)  We contract the Pharisee Syndrome when our motivation stops being love. We need to remember that we all are sinful by nature, that we can never earn God's favor, and that God's love and grace has saved us.

So there you have it: the Pharisee Syndrome. If you are a Christian, I encourage you to read the Bible and evaluate yourself (2 Peter 1:10, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Psalm 139:23-24). This is something I also need to do. Let's read the Bible and humbly accept the truth that there are Pharisees in the world, and that there may be one in your mirror.

Trustworthy

This won't be a long post. I just want to point out Jeremiah 29:11. It's been a meaningful verse to me for a while now, and it's a verse that I'm now coming back to.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Something that I continue to learn more about God is that He is trustworthy. We can only see God's timing in hindsight, if even that. I sometimes get frustrated at God's timing, and I don't understand why certain things happen. But looking back, I see how God has a plan for me. It's a very simple concept, that God knows the plans He has for us, but it can be very hard to accept that fact, to trust in it. When things get hard, I ask God a bunch of "why" questions, like "Why is it so hard to accept your current plan for me?" and "Why can't your timing be closer to my timing?" But in the past, and currently, I go back to verses like Jeremiah 29:11, and I ask God to help me trust in them. I don't want this to seem like an easy and quick process, because it is usually not at all. But I know it works.
It's God's timing, not mine.

Washing Others' Dishes Could Change the World

Here's a little thought that popped into my head today, and I thought I should share it before I forget. After a meeting I went to wash my coffee mug and spoon, and there were some other dishes in the sink. I decided that it wouldn't hurt to wash them too, since I had the sponge and the hot water was running. Then a thought hit me: washing dishes could change the world. I'm talking about the mindset of washing dishes; because that's the example that Jesus set in John 13:1-17. It was their last supper together, and everyone had dirty feet. In that culture, the host would have a servant wash the guests' feet, since they usually wore just sandals so their feet got pretty dirty; but they were basically "renting out" a room for their last meal together. So Jesus and his disciples all had dirty feet, but it appears as though no one really takes initiative in doing something about it. I can imagine Peter leaning over to John and saying, "Dude, look at Matthew's feet. Aren't they rediculously dirty? That's gotta be embarrassing."

But Jesus takes the initiative. He decides to wash everyone's feet. It doesn't even say if he washed his own feet; he was just looking out for the people around him.

How could that mindset change the world? Imagine instead of looking at an issue and commenting on it and leaving it at that, being a servant and looking out for others. Goodness, Philippians 2:4-5 even says, "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Well, Jesus was quite the servant. Could having a servant attitude break the cycle of commenting how bad the world is and then doing nothing about it?

Maybe.

"Jesus Time" Comes First

Hey there all!

So this past weekend the staff of HDC was busy hosting a junior high group from Petra. It was a great time, and I had the opportunity to give a session yesterday morning. I decided to write a post about the things I talked about, since it was all basic and good stuff to talk about. So here it is: my post about communion with God.

I was given 8 pages of things I should talk about, so the topic wasn't a "Samuel Jablonski Original." The topic was communion with God, which is a big name for spending time with God by reading the Bible, praying, or something else of the sort, to hear His voice. I first talked about how very important it is to devote time daily for just you and God. Loving God is, after all, the greatest commandment (Mark 12:30). We talked a little about what communion with God looks like, and I shared how I called it "Jesus time" during my trip to Albania. I would just be alone in my room with my Bible, either listening to worship music, a Cornerstone podcast, or nothing at all. It was really amazing how God spoke through those times, and I really enjoyed them.

I then talked about the example that Jesus gave us during his time on Earth. The main example I talked about was Mark 1:35-38. It's an amazing account of Jesus' integrity for his relationship with his Father. Jesus gets up super early, goes to a place of seclusion, away from the people and noise of the village at which he was staying, and prays. Then instead of continuing his ministry there at the village, where things were going pretty well, Jesus says to his disciples that they are going somewhere else to preach. This was after Jesus did a bunch of miracles and got the villagers' attention.

Why would Jesus pick up and move somewhere else when the whole village was clamoring for more of Jesus? The whole village could have become believers!

Jesus demonstrates how high of a priority his communion with God is. He got away from the noise and people around him, He listened for God's voice, and He obeyed.

I'm sure there was a bunch of activity going on in the village when he was there, but Jesus knew that he needed to spend time with God, to fill up, to listen for God's voice. He mentions this importance later on in John 15 (one of my favorite chapters of the Bible). He says in verse 5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." He compares our relationship with God like the relationship of a branch and a vine. The branch needs the vine to grow and to bear fuit; a branch separated from the vine equals a dead branch. Not much a dead branch can do (you may say that last sentence in a Yoda voice).

So keeping up our relationship with God is the only way we can stay spiritually healthy. This "Jesus time" is absolutely vital for us to continue pursuing God and for us to listen for God's voice, so we can hear His instruction. God remains in us when we remain in Him, when we continue going back to Him. An important part of this aspect of our relationship with God is our listening for His voice. Jesus talks about how his followers hear his voice and follow him in John 10:1-16. He calls himself the shepherd, and he calls us his sheep who hear and know his voice. One thing I mentioned during the session was that when we enter Jesus' sheep pen (become his follower), we need to learn how to hear God's voice. The hardest part of this is to quiet all the other voices going on in our lives; it's tough to tune out the noise of life. I'm assuming it's because this is a hard thing to do that prayer closets were invented. Like Jesus, we need to separate ourselves from everything else, to go to a solitary place, so we can hear God's voice more clearly.

I find it more difficult to connect with what I'm reading in the Bible if I'm around other people; I get easily distracted. That's why I need this alone time with God: so that I can better hear what He wants to tell me, so that I can be focused on the Word and nothing else, so that I can have a worthwhile "Jesus time."

A Purpose Kind of Purpose

Greetings friends, family, and passersby!

I have decided to start this blog for at least the duration of my time here at the Harrisburg Discipleship Center. For my first post, I decided to state my purpose of this blog (if the purpose of a blog isn't already self-explanatory).

Basically, this blog is for you to know what's going on in my spiritual life. I want to focus on this because I will be focusing on spiritual growth here through discipleship. As the subtitle of the blog suggests, I am pursuing and sharing the love of God, so I would like this blog to reflect that. So my posts could look like spiritual lessons I'm learning, things that are frustrating me (e.g. American churchgoers who have the audacity to claim a faith in Jesus but deny Him with their lives), or simply Bible verses that stick out to me. I'm not exactly sure how it will look like, so you will have to stay tuned to discover what things I will talk about.

So there you have it. Reason for my blog: stated. Thanks for all your support! Until next time!